TOKYO (majirox news) — Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets scrambled as Russian and Chinese military aircraft came close to Japanese airspace Sept. 8, the Defense Ministry said.

Two Russian bombers flew around Japan, skirting Japanese airspace from the Tsushima Straits in Nagasaki prefecture, and flying along the Pacific Ocean coastline north up to an area near the Northern Territories, the Defense Ministry said Sept. 8.

It was the first confirmed circumnavigation of Japan by Russian military aircraft.

The ministry said the bombers did not intrude on Japanese airspace.

Also Thursday, a Chinese Shaanxi Y-8 aircraft flew south above the East China Sea at about midday, crossed the midway point between Japan and China and approached a points from 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) to 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) from Okinawa prefecture and the disputed Senkaku Islands, the ministry said.

The Chinese aircraft, which was gathering information, did not intrude on Japanese aircraft, but ASDF jets scrambled in response to it.